Transformation Science Program

About

The Transformation Science Program (TSP), part of the Sustainable Societies Initiative (SSI) at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability (SDSS), explores broad approaches to achieve transformative change across contexts and scales. Through transdisciplinary research, TSP builds on foundational transformation science to develop both novel theory and tangible impact, catalyzing transformative change for sustainability in ways that are scalable and transferable. We pursue this mission by building a community of scholars, practitioners, industry leaders, policymakers, and funders to study, identify, and implement strategies for transformation.

TSP's guiding objective is to support transformations to sustainability that equitably improve social-ecological wellbeing today while safeguarding the wellbeing of future generations. Four principles guide our research agenda. First, we focus on the question of how: how societies might actually accomplish transformations to sustainability, not just what needs to change. Second, we pursue transformative, rather than incremental, change, with the aim of generating knowledge that enables lasting shifts in human-environment systems. Third, we employ a systems lens, studying the mechanisms and interventions that drive transformation across diverse contexts. Fourth, we work transdisciplinarily, building teams that collaborate from the outset with partners beyond academia.

Areas of Research Interest

Organizing for Sustainability Transitions

Bridges social movement scholarship with sustainability transitions research, investigating how advocates and communities more broadly organize effectively in contemporary contexts marked by political polarization, digital communication, and coordinated opposition from entrenched interests.

Transforming Institutions in Local Governance

Develops the concept of the "generous city" as a normative vision for urban sustainability, offering actionable guidance for communities pursuing just, equitable, and sustainable urban transformation.

Learning Interventions for Transformative Change

Investigates how learning-focused interventions across formal and informal settings and across the lifespan might develop knowledge, values, skills, and actions to support sustainability transformations.

Imagining Transformative Change in Post-Disaster Contexts

Explores how disaster recovery might contribute to broader systems change, using natural hazard insurance and post-disaster recovery as entry points for understanding how communities can enhance climate resilience while addressing the growing crisis of affordability and availability in insurance markets.

Rethinking Food Systems for Sustainable Futures

Examines how food systems might be transformed to address cascading risks, from food insecurity to famine, exacerbated by climate change and conflict, while reconceptualizing food as a public good that recognizes small-scale producers currently invisible in many policy frameworks.

People

Co-Directors

Nicole Ardoin

Associate Professor of Environmental Social Sciences and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Gabrielle Wong-Parodi

Associate Professor of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment

Collaborators and Co-Founders

James Leape

William and Eva Price Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Oceans
Pamela Matson

Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute, Emerita
Anjana Richards

Assistant Dean for Research Initiatives
Sarah Soule

Philip H. Knight Professor for the Dean at the Graduate School of Business, Morgridge Professor in the Graduate School of Business and Professor, by courtesy, of Sociology